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Vets battle on the homefront

Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving 36 men in an Afghanistan ambush, is fighting State Department red tape to get his former translator a visa.

Hafez, a pseudonym to protect his identity, is a hero, Meyer tells Fox News. The translator fought beside Meyer, even covering for him during the firefight. Now Hafez is being targeted by the Taliban.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, commander of international forces in Afghanistan, wants Hafez to get a visa ASAP. But with thousands of Afghan and Iraqi translators applying for visas, a U.S. official says the State Department “is handling as many cases as we can as fast as we can.”

Meanwhile, a disabled Army veteran who survived IED attacks in Afghanistan found himself in a war of words with a police officer for walking on a New Jersey boardwalk with his service dog, WFTS-TV reports.

When Jared Goering pointed out the special insignia on his dog’s collar, the police officer was unimpressed.

“What are they doing? Giving every vet a dog now?” the officer scoffed, according to Goering’s wife, Sally.

Goering was ticketed.

The North Wildwood Police Department says it is investigating the incident.

Compiled by M.S. Scully. An excerpt from the print edition of This Just In for Aug. 13, 2013. This Just In appears in the A-section of the Tribune-Review on Tuesday and Friday.